So says the slogan of Skydive XDream in Interlaken, Switzerland:

When the urge is bigger than the fear...just jump!

I finally got to check off that box on the bucket list this past weekend. It was an unbelievable experience that went by way too quickly. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have had no other feeling like that of standing on the runner outside a helicopter soaring over the Alps at 12,000 ft. in the air! I wasn't even able to hold onto the sides of the heli while I was out there, just my harness, and I had to trust that Howie, my tandem master, really was attached to me and would stay that way once he pushed me out and we plummeted back to earth. We rushed past snow and ice covered moutaintops and soared directly over a glacier waterfall so close that I could almost touch it. More pics and video to come! But of course, these could never do the true beauty of Switzerland justice.

But really, I love that quote. There are so many things in life that you can apply it to. Why live with regrets!? Do you feel that desire, urge, tugging to do something that may seem a little crazy or scary? Are you worried, doubtful, scared that it might take you out of your comfort zone? Just jump!

As I mentioned before, I was able to spend a long weekend traveling with my parents and friends to Switzerland. Aside from skydiving, we also were able to explore the really cool towns of Interlaken and Lucerne. I love those places. The architecture is like none other...pure Swiss. There are garderns everywhere you look. It's pristine. The Swiss people are nothing if not clean, organized, and systematic. But you have to pay for it. I can think of very few places I've visited that were more expensive. There's great shopping, but I couldn't afford to buy anything. I was thrilled in Lucerne to find a Starbucks, however promptly depressed to discover my Vanilla Latte cost about $7. Aside from this, it was a great experience. We toured the towns, took a boat cruise up and down the lake of Lucerne to various other towns, and we ate a lot! Swiss cheese fondue, chocolate, bavarian food, etc. It is really a great place to be...even the train rides to and from were full of breathtaking surroundings.

The best part: the weather. For the past few weeks here in Italy (and apparently also in Switzerland) it has been randomly rainy, overcast, and windy. It was even raining while I traveled on the trains on Friday. But Saturday morning I woke up to find it was the most beautiful day they have seen yet. All of the skydiving team kept telling me how lucky I was and that they couldn't believe it. All day Saturday and Sunday were perfect. Then, when I arrived back in Italy, it started raining again. Haha, I love God's little gifts to me! I knew He wanted me to be able to go skydiving. :)

So I guess all of the Ferragosto celebrations were postponed until last night due to the rain over the weekend. Upon leaving our house after dinner last night, we were immediately overcome by a parade of screaming people, banging drums, and Brazilian dancers in extremely elaborate costumes. They marched throughout the streets in town for about an hour. People were everywhere. It was almost like Halloween in the sense that everyone was dressed up in all sorts of crazy costumes. The families/owners/friends of each shop, restaurant, and hotel each picked a theme and went all out. On my left I passed by a clothing shop filled with cowgirls (memories of Nashville...) while on my right I passed a restaurant serviced by Vikings. Two doors down was a hotel of Indians. There were also gladiators, peasants, maids, hawaiians, etc, etc. Performing in Piazza Vittoria was an Italian rock band singing English songs. This was a particular favorite of mine. Afterwards was the long awaited Brazilian Ipanema 'Carnival' show. Lots of dancing, shaking, and more crazy costumes. The show lasted until about 1am. Like I have said, children stay up remarkably late here. Then guess what? Tomorrow night is another celebration...the White Night! It's always something. Too bad I won't be here for that one. I'm off in the morning for Interlaken, then Lucerne. Be back on Monday night!

 
I had a great time with my family and friends from Tennessee this past weekend. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and quite funny to watch them interact with the Italian culture here. I had almost forgotten how much my mom makes me laugh with her Southern phrases, accent, and charm. I love it!

Of course, the main thing that we did all weekend was eat. I mean, it's Italy! I had to make sure that they tasted all the typical dishes. Saturday (as would be our luck) just happened to be the rainiest and worst weather I think this beach has ever seen. It rained hard almost all day and night, but my parents were not discouraged. It was like a ghost town here because Italians hate bad weather. I think my parents must be used to lots of rain because it didn't phase them at all. We toured several cities along the Ligurian coast that afternoon including Noli, Varigotti, and Borgio Verezzi. Every time it started to downpour we would duck into the closest bar for a cappuccino, focaccia farcita, or crepe.

Noli is a beautifully preserved fishing village next to Spotorno. And like all villages throughout Italy, there is an old castle/fortress at the top of the hill with 12th century walls that once protected the entire town. So what did my parents want to do?? Hike up to the top of the castle, of course. Luckily during this part of the day it had briefly stopped raining, though all of the brush was still soaking wet. By the looks of things, this 'trail' hadn't been walked on in a few years. It was completely overgrown with brush, cacti, weeds, and lots of creepy crawlies along the path (luckily they weren't big enough to be squishy). Upon arrival at the top we were absolutely soaked and filthy with a few minor flesh wounds, but we had accomplished our goal. The castle remains are not really tourable, but it was still cool to see with gorgeous views of the coastline. On clear days from here you can see all the way to the Cinque Terre.


Varigotti is the next town over and though they are all very close each town has its own unique character. This was a gorgeous yet tiny little town with the feeling of a high class beach resort. It had a beautiful rocky pier out into the sea and plenty of sandy beaches running along the coast right behind a pink row of 'old town' shops and bars.  Borgio was also a lovely town worth mentioning with a cool old city set up on a hillside, but by this point we were soaked and quite tired so we only stayed long enough for a gelato. My favorite part here was the beautiful gardens along the hills growing everything you can imagine to eat. I love how fresh the food is here.

By Sunday the sun was back out along with all of the visitors geared up for the beach. However, being with my mom and Peggy we spent our morning shopping the market. We did make it to the beach with enough time for them to see Sara and the little kiddos playing in the water. My parents were so excited to meet the children! For lunch, Luca and Sara treated my family and friends to an all-out Italian feast. We had several courses including homemade salami (one of those foods that I usually don't like at home, but this stuff was delicious), homemade bruschetta, pasta with fresh clams and herbs, steamed white fish with potatoes, chocolate and pear torta, and gelato. And you can't have an Italian feast like this without wine. Since Sara's father (the winemaker) was also in town at the time, we had about 4 or 5 different bottles to try...white wine, sparkline wine, several reds, and a very rare dessert wine that is no longer in production. Luca also broke out shots of his special Dutch bourbon just for the occasion. It was all quite amusing considering neither my family nor their friends actually drink, but I had forgotten to mention this to Luca. As polite Southerners not wanting to offend Italian tradition, they partook.

Sunday night we took a trip over to the town of Albisola to check out their famous ceramics and pottery. There were very interesting displays of art throughout the town and ceramic designs covering the sidewalks. It was also one of the prettiest beaches I've seen around here if you can get past the fact that your view is of the surrounding factories. Next we ventured to Varazze to walk along the marina at sunset. This was a truly romantic setting so I will have to find someone to take me back sometime for dinner there at the harbor. ;) Gorgeous.

Sunday was a very big holiday here in Italy...Ferragosto. Because of this I expected there to be much more going on, but this didn't seem to be the case in Varazze. It just meant that all the shops were closed and everyone was eating out that night. We asked what the day celebrates, but no one really knows. Apparently that part of the tradition was lost somewhere so now it is just a big party day for people to take off and go to the beach. Italians find reasons to celebrate anything.

Now I'm back in Spotorno getting geared up for another adventure with the folks this weekend, only this time the setting is Switzerland. With this crowd there's bound to be some funny stories to come!

My parents are coming to visit me tomorrow... Who's excited?! They arrived this morning in Nice, France and have been exploring that area along with the town of Eze. By tomorrow evening they will be here in Spotorno to visit for a few days. They are traveling with some other friends of theirs, so they're making it a nice little vacation and tour of southern Europe. We don't have many set plans yet for the weekend here; who knows what we will end up doing. Then next weekend I will be traveling with them to Switzerland. Time for some thrills! I'll keep you guys posted with how it goes.  :)

A few Italian tidbits...

There always seems to be something going on here...something to keep all the tourists entertained during the summer. In the piazzas at night there are live bands and street performances. There are markets during the day and games out on the beach. A few days ago there was a magic show set up right in the middle of our beach for the children...a "spectacolo" as they say. Sunday afternoon there were adult sack races on the beach next to ours, Bagni Columbo (the party beach).

Sunday night was the big event...Miss Spotorno 2010! Haha, this I couldn't miss. We had guests over for dinner that night, but we made a point of finishing up as soon as we heard the music start. 35 girls between the ages of 14-27 years old (mostly averaging around 16). I am still constantly amazed by the skimpyness of young girls outfits around here and how quickly they try to become adults. I am equally amazed at how this doesn't seem to phase anyone else besides me. But that's another story. Everyone was out to watch this big event which, I must say, was quite entertaining. Some of the girls took it so seriously prancing around and posing, while others just looked like it was the worst moment of their lives. The hardest part for me was having to listen to the two TERRIBLE Italian singers between each of the categories. They covered everything from Michael Jackson to Lionel Richie, Madonna, Maroon 5, Paula Abdul, and Oasis. It was painful. Needless to say, I tried to stay until the end to see the winners announced, but I was exhausted. And just when I thought it was almost over, another song would start. I couldn't take it. It was already midnight. Of course there were still small children running around everywhere. I don't think Italians know what a 'bedtime' is. Little 4 year old children are always outlasting me in this town.

Saturday night I broke down and went to see Robin Hood at the very cool open air theater here. I was sick of missing American entertainment, but of course it was in Italian. Oh well, I at least got the gist of it. One thing of interest, the movie had an intermission, which I came to realize was just an excuse for a smoke break half way through. When you start smoking at the age of 14 like most Italians do, I guess you can't make it without a cigarette long enough to see an entire movie.

One very pleasant thing here in Spotorno is the market. This happens every Tuesday morning and stretches the entire length of the main part of town. Here you can find anything and everything you can possibly desire. Today I was able to obtain a dress, two swimsuits, a very cool umbrella, and some facewash and other various soap supplies all for about 35 euro. Pretty good I'd say!

Lastly...the many holidays. Today is the holiday of the patron saint of our hometown (Alba), Saint Lawrence. Yes, every town in Italy has its own patron saint. August 10th is the day of the feast of Saint Lawrence, and it nicely coincides each year with the Perseid Meteor shower in mid-August. Hence, tonight on my rooftop I will be watching what they refer to as the 'tears of Saint Lawrence'. Looking forward to it!

As exciting as it is for me to hear these little children trying to speak English words to me (with very thick, but cute Italian accents), sometimes it's just funnier to hear their Italian expressions. Nothing makes me laugh more than when little 2 year old Claudio does something like dropping his red Hot Wheels Ferrari into the middle of his pile of pesto tagliatelle and exclaiming "Oh, Mamma Mia!!"

We're finally starting to make some progress with the kids learning English! It's been slow and steady, but up until now they have really had no desire to learn another language. It was only their parents desire for them. So that made things a bit difficult.

However, it's like something has finally changed this past week. The girls are suddenly excited about learning and always wanting to know how to say things in English. They enjoy showing people what they know and they are proud of themselves. Claudio just repeats everything that anyone says, so that works out fine. He was running around yesterday afternoon screaming 'doggy doggy!' for about an hour while playing with his nonna's Cocker Spaniel. This caused some confusion because nonna didn't know what he was saying and kept telling him that her dog's name was Lily, not doggy. Haha.

The comprehension levels of all three children has greatly improved as well. Let's hope this excitement keeps up!  :)